Other local celebrities have noticed that Frances Tiafoe has been the face of tennis in the DMV (the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) for a considerable amount of time. The legendary musician Wale is a major fan of the US Open quarterfinalist, who will face Grigor Dimitrov on Tuesday in an attempt to advance to the final four.

Wale said in a recent interview: “It’s like a shot in the arm. The DMV is known for football and basketball. We’ve got a lot. But tennis, there are not a lot of black men’s tennis players that are having that level of success. For him to be where we’re from, it’s just the icing on the cake. He’s an easy guy to root for in a sport that I feel like he can even be one of the faces of.”

Wale even went to see his friend compete in the ATP 500 event at the Mubadala Citi DC Open last month. He likened the atmosphere to that of a home game for the Washington Commanders.

Beyond his achievements in the tennis arena, Wale has been pleased with the 26-year-old’s demeanour.

Wlae added: “He’s humble. Even when he was like, ‘It’s my house’ [against Ben Shelton], you can still tell that he respects his opponent, he respects the game. He’s just easy to root for. He gets into it when he’s got to. On a personal level, just how he is with me and how he is with other people, he’s just a really good dude. People who have that much success, don’t always be the best people and he’s just a really good person who really respects the sport and respects his opponent. He’s an exciting player. What’s not to love, right?”

Tiafoe at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2024

Frances Tiafoe

28 - 20win/loss

Hard

19-10

I Hard

1-1

Clay

5-6

Grass

3-3

Rank
20

High
10

26 year old

WWWWLWWWWW

2024 Highlights

F

HoustonCincinnati

SF

Delray BeachWashington

QF

Hong KongDallasStuttgartAtlanta

SEE ALL

Currently ranked no.20, Frances has managed to achieve a composed 28-20 match record in 2024. Tiafoe is participating at the U.S. Open where he bested the world no.76 Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5, the world no.61 Alexander Shevchenko 6-4 6-1 1-0 ret., the world no.13 Ben Shelton 4-6 7-5 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 and the world no.28 Alexei Popyrin 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3.

Frances Tiafoe will fight against the world no.11 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Round Robin. Their head to head is 4-3 for Tsitsipas.

Frances was the runner-up in Houston (US Men’s Clay Court Championship) and in Cincinnati (Western & Southern Open).

Tiafoe won 4 titles in his career: 2 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)

U.S. Open

Tiafoe's Record

Projected
Draw